Written Answers Thursday 16 September 2010

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what caused all three ambulance control rooms to not function on 21 July 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that the Cardonald telephone system is the main "Hub" for the three Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres in Scotland and controls the operation of the local telephone systems at the other sites. An initial fault on the Inverness telephone system caused the corruption of the processor memory at Cardonald and this subsequently affected the telephony systems at all sites.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for how long all three ambulance control rooms were out of operation on 21 July 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service experienced disruption in their normal call handling operations on 21 July and there was a period of 50 minutes when all three Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDCs) were out of operation while a controlled close down and restart was carried out.

  The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that their normal call handling operations were impacted as follows:

  Inverness EMDC between 01:05 and 14:55.

  Cardonald EMDC between 09:56 and 14:00.

  Norseman EMDC between 09:42 and 15:30.

  This means that there was a period of just over four hours when all three centres were experiencing difficulty. The controlled close down and restart took place between 13:10 and 14:00.

  During the overall period some calls continued to be answered by the Scottish EMDCs in the usual way, some were routed by BT to mobile telephones in the three Scottish EMDCs and, where necessary, some were routed to be answered by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service or the North West Ambulance Service. These contingency arrangements are part of the established resilience procedures that are in place to deal with a scenario such as the one experienced on 21 July.

  The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that during the times of 01:05 to 15:45, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service dealt with 121 calls and the North West Ambulance Service dealt with 28 calls, less than 10% of the incidents dealt with by the ambulance service that day. Of these, some calls were found to be duplicates, therefore 125 patients had their details taken and then passed back to Scotland for an ambulance to be dispatched.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when (a) civil servants, (b) the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing or (c) the Minister for Public Health were notified that all three ambulance control rooms were out of operation on 21 July 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service experienced disruption in their normal call handling operations on 21 July and there was a period of 50 minutes when all three Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDCs) were out of operation while a controlled close down and restart was carried out.

  My officials were first notified of the problems being experienced in the call handling operations of the Scottish Ambulance Service at around 12:25 on 21 July 2010 and ministers offices were notified around 15 minutes later. We were then kept updated during the course of the day until normal operations were resumed.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has concerns that no ambulance control room was operating on 21 July 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: It is not the case that no ambulance control room was operating on 21 July 2010. The Scottish Ambulance Service experienced disruption in their normal call handling operations on 21 July and there was a period of 50 minutes when all three Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDCs) were out of operation while a controlled close down and restart was carried out.

  The Scottish Ambulance Service swiftly put in place contingency plans to support 999 calls while the operation of the EMDCs was compromised. However, any compromise of the call handling operations of the Scottish Ambulance Service is of concern and the Scottish Ambulance Service therefore instructed BT to undertake a full review of the resilience of the telephony system.

  The Scottish Ambulance Service have been undertaking a thorough investigation in to the incident on 21 July. This has included reviewing the sequence of events on the day, considering how the contingency arrangements worked, understanding what the impact was on service delivery and, most importantly, auditing the clinical outcomes for patients. The ambulance service have been focussing on learning lessons and identifying actions that need to be taken forward by the service and others.

  As part of their investigation, the Scottish Ambulance Service have undertaken a clinical audit that has reviewed every 999 call on the day, as well as all of those patients for whom an ambulance was requested within one hour or two hours by their GP, with particular focus on the 125 patients who were routed outside of Scotland for their calls to be answered. Dr George Crooks, Medical Director of the Scottish Ambulance Service, has informed me that the clinical case mix and outcomes achieved on 21 July reflected those experienced when the service is working as normal and that there were no adverse outcomes attributable to the delays associated with the buddy system.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the resilience in the provision of ambulance control and how it will ensure that the resilience is improved.

Nicola Sturgeon: BT were instructed to undertake a full review of resilience of the system and the findings of that will be factored into future contingency arrangements .

  The Scottish Ambulance Service have been undertaking a thorough investigation in to the incident on 21 July 2010. This has included reviewing the sequence of events on the day, considering how the contingency arrangements worked, understanding what the impact was on service delivery and, most importantly, auditing the clinical outcomes for patients. The ambulance service have been focussing on learning lessons and identifying actions that need to be taken forward by the service and others.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service assisted in dealing with all 999 ambulance calls from Scotland on 21 July 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: In line with contingency planning arrangements that are in place for the Scottish Ambulance Service, both the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and the North West Ambulance Service in England assisted in dealing with calls from Scotland on 21 July 2010.

  The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that during the times of 01:05 to 15:45, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service dealt with 121 calls and the North West Ambulance Service dealt with 28 calls, less than 10% of the incidents dealt with by the ambulance service that day. Of these, some calls were found to be duplicates, therefore 125 patients had their details taken and then passed back to Scotland for an ambulance to be dispatched.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it has not publicly reported the failure that caused all three ambulance control rooms to cease functioning on 21 July 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The contingency arrangements were activated, the fault was resolved quickly, and BT has confirmed that all 999 calls were answered. None of the information available to the Scottish Government indicated that it was necessary to make an announcement. However, a full investigation into the events of 21 July 2010 is being conducted and a report will be published.

Health

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve clinical psychology services in Ayrshire.

Shona Robison: Provision of quality clinical psychology services which meets the needs of the local population is primarily a matter for NHS Ayrshire and Arran and its planning partners to deliver, within the context of the Scottish Government’s strategic commitment to work with NHS boards and NHS Education for Scotland to improve access to psychology services and evidence based psychological therapies across Scotland.

  Ongoing work to support service change includes:

  The commitment to develop an access target for psychological therapies for inclusion in HEAT in 2011-12;

  Improving the range and availability of training to increase the current workforce’s capacity and competency to deliver evidence based psychological therapies;

  Roll out of NHS NES competence-based psychological therapies supervision training;

  Reviewing and updating the matrix guide to delivering evidence based psychological therapies;

  Funding the NHS NES Psychological Interventions Team to co-ordinate the strategic planning and development of psychological therapies across Scotland;

  Establishing local integrated care pathways for depression in line with national standards, and

  Priority attention to increasing the number of psychologists working in specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) with £6.5 million available over three years to NHS boards to support delivery of the CAMHS HEAT target.

Higher Education

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place regarding full university status for the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands.

Michael Russell: UHI Millennium Institute submitted its application for university title to the Privy Council Office in May 2010. The Scottish Government has sought the advice of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education on the application and a scrutiny panel is now assessing it with a view to QAA providing recommendations to Scottish ministers in December 2010. The Scottish Government also launched a consultation on 30 August 2010 on the award of university title to UHI which seeks responses by 22 November 2010.

Homelessness

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the homelessness figures are for (a) Scotland, (b) the Glasgow City Council area and (c) Glasgow Baillieston.

Alex Neil: Homelessness figures are collected and published only at a local authority and Scotland level. The figures for Glasgow City and Scotland are available on the reference tables on Scottish Government website through the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables.

Homelessness

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding issues arising from the changes in housing benefit proposed in the UK Budget in June 2010.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is considering the possible impact of the changes to housing benefit proposed by the UK Government. It is essential that the effects of these changes are fully understood, particularly with regard to vulnerable households and critical policy objectives such as the 2012 homelessness commitments. Officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in the Department for Work and Pensions and I have stressed to UK ministers the importance of genuine and extensive consultation on their welfare reform proposals, both in correspondence and during a meeting on 29 July 2010 with the UK Minister for Disabled People.

Homelessness

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken measures to address homelessness in Scotland since the announcement of the UK Budget in June 2010 or is planning to do so.

Alex Neil: The joint Scottish Government/COSLA 2012 steering group met in June and September 2010. The meeting in September 2010 discussed measures to assist local authorities in maintaining progress towards the 2012 homelessness target and the potential implications of housing benefit changes proposed in the UK budget for those experiencing homelessness.

  Additionally, a prevention of homelessness event was held for local authorities in June 2010 to explore the benefits of a housing options approach, with practice highlighted from Scotland and England. At this event, I announced funding for local authorities to work together in taking forward this approach. A series of regional seminars have been held during August and September 2010 to develop action plans in this regard.

Justice

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider using its powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 to establish an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the conviction of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, his subsequent release and surrounding events, on the basis of public concern and, if not, whether it will consider setting up a joint inquiry with the UK Government under the provision of section 32 of the Act and the concordat on the Act between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government’s actions have already been reviewed by committees of both the Scottish and UK Parliaments and we have no plans to initiate any inquiry. As I explained in my statement of 20 August 2009, the Scottish Government does not doubt the safety of the conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi. Nevertheless, there remain concerns to some on the wider issues of the Lockerbie atrocity. The questions to be asked and answered in any such inquiry would be beyond the jurisdiction of Scots Law and the remit of the Scottish Government.

Justice

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have received a custodial sentence for fine default in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The number of fine defaulters receiving custodial sentences has dropped markedly falling from a figure of 8,358 in 1999-2000 to 1,506 in 2008-09.

  

1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


8,358
7,566
6,991
7,097
6,888



  

2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


6,098
6,213
5,963
3,610
1,506



  The information requested is given in table 16 in Prison statistics Scotland: 2008-09. This is available online through the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/27092125/0.

Justice

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average value was of the outstanding fine in cases in which fine defaulters have been subject to a custodial sentence in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: The average value of the outstanding fine in cases in which fine defaulters have been subject to a custodial sentence is as follows:

  

1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


£251
£241
£259
£261
£276



  

2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


£288
£277
£277
£286
£339



  The information requested is given in Table 16 in Prison statistics Scotland: 2008-09. This is available on-line through the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/27092125/0.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost of reoffending is to the criminal justice system.

Kenny MacAskill: Precise cost estimates for Scotland are not currently available. Estimating such costs is not straightforward, as it is not possible to directly attribute all crimes and offences to individual offenders or reoffenders.

  However, a social exclusion unit report on "Reducing reoffending by ex-prisoners" (2002) noted that:

  It is possible to estimate the cost of re-offending by ex-prisoners from the overall costs of crime calculated by the Home Office:

  this analysis looked at "notifiable offences" – a subset of crime that excludes some crimes such as drug trafficking and possession, handling stolen goods, public order offences, low level disorder, fare evasion, motoring offences, and other summary offences;

  it put the total costs of these crimes at around £60 billion, counting costs incurred in anticipation of crime (for example, insurance), costs as a consequence of crime (for example, health services, repairing damage) and the costs of the criminal justice system, and

  it is estimated that re-offending by recent ex-prisoners accounts for at least 18 per cent of total crime, so at least £10.8 billion, and probably much more.

  Scottish Government officials are in the process of developing similar estimates for Scotland.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is to the criminal justice system of each incident of reoffending that leads to reconviction.

Kenny MacAskill: Precise cost estimates for Scotland are not currently available. Estimating such costs is not straightforward, as it is not possible to directly attribute all crimes and offences to individual offenders or reoffenders.

  However, a social exclusion unit report on "Reducing reoffending by ex-prisoners" (2002) noted that:

  "Home Office researchers estimate that each offence leading to reconviction costs the criminal justice system on average £13,000. It is also estimated that five recorded offences are committed for each reconviction, meaning that, during their time at liberty, a re-offending ex-prisoner is likely to be responsible for crime costing the criminal justice system an average of £65,000."

  Scottish Government officials are in the process of developing similar estimates for Scotland.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of crime is committed by offenders who have previous convictions.

Kenny MacAskill: It is not possible to directly measure the proportion of crime committed by repeat offenders. However, of the 90,049 unique individual offenders who were convicted of an offence in 2008-09, 59 per cent (53,208 individuals) had a conviction for a previous offence within the last 10 years.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is of processing an offender on (a) arrival and (b) release from prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS does not record the average cost of processing an offender on (a) arrival and (b) release from prison.

Justice

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when all prison health services will be transferred to the NHS.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The National Programme Board for Prisoners’ Healthcare are preparing for the transfer which is scheduled for autumn 2011.

Land Reform

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make a decision on the applications by the Pairc Trust to buy land and an associated lease on the Pairc estate under Part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

Roseanna Cunningham: The legislation prescribes a timetable for the right to buy process. In accordance with that timetablem ministers cannot make a decision on the applications submitted by Pairc Trust until 29 October 2010.

Leisure

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much is raised through the provision of leisure services, broken down by local authority, and how these services might be provided through the use of arm’s length service providers.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The level of income raised through the provision of leisure services is a matter for the individual provider. It is for each provider to determine how best to meet demand for its services whilst achieving best value.

Mental Health

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time to access clinical psychology services in Ayrshire was in each of the last five years.

Shona Robison: The information is not held centrally.

  We are developing an access target for psychological therapies for inclusion in HEAT in 2011-12 which will allow us to measure the referral to treatment times for psychological therapies.

Mental Health

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were waiting for a first appointment within Adult Psychological Therapies in each of the last 36 months.

Shona Robison: The information is not held centrally.

  We are developing an access target for psychological therapies for inclusion in HEAT in 2011-12 which will allow us to measure the referral to treatment times for psychological therapies.

Mental Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many veterans have received mental healthcare in Scottish hospitals in each year since 1999.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. Data from primary care and psychiatric hospital activity does not separately identify veterans.

Mental Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to improve mental healthcare for veterans.

Shona Robison: All NHS boards continue to work with their partners towards improved access to services and outcomes for veterans, their carers and families based on prevention, appropriate intervention and sustained recovery.

  These principles are at the heart of new arrangements and investment in place since April 2009 for improved access to specialist and community based metal health services for Veterans and their families.

  In partnership with NHSScotland, we have made £1.2 million available each year to fund new arrangements through Combat Stress, the ex-services mental health welfare charity, to provide specialist mental health services for Veterans in Scotland at Hollybush House in Ayr. A range of specialist evidence based treatments, therapies and rehabilitation are available based on comprehensive individual needs assessment. The new arrangements represents almost double the previous annual investment.

  We are also funding Combat Stress to provide two Regional multi-disciplinary teams to cover the East and West of Scotland to improve access to community outreach services at nearly £560,000 over three years to 2011. The Teams seek to ensure Veterans with service related mental ill health are appropriately assessed, supported and treated in order that they can maintain their place in the local community and achieve their full potential. We are currently considering arrangements beyond 2011.

  In partnership with NHS Lothian we are also investing £930,000 to 2011 for the Veterans First Point pilot in central Edinburgh. Operational since April last year, the community-based service provides a "One Stop Shop" for assistance to Veterans and their families no matter what that need might be. Over 300 veterans have used the service to date. The pilot will be evaluated and the outcome will inform the further development of improved mental health services for Veterans across Scotland.

Museums

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its press release of 19 August 2010 on funding from Museums Galleries Scotland, how many Recognised Collections awards have been made, broken down by (a) date and (b) the body to which the award was made.

Fiona Hyslop: This is a matter for Museums Galleries Scotland. I have asked Joanne Orr, the Chief Executive, to write directly to the member with the information requested.

Museums

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35045 by Fiona Hyslop on 23 July 2010, when it will publish the recommendations of its working group on future museum strategy.

Fiona Hyslop: I had a positive meeting with the think tank on 12 August 2010. The report and recommendations are currently being finalised and will be published as soon as possible. I intend the Scottish Government to respond soon thereafter.

Police

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the retention of the forensic services laboratory in Aberdeen.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) delivers forensic science services to all eight police forces and the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service on a national basis. The SPSA is committed to creating an improved and responsive national service and has been carrying out extensive engagement with stakeholders over the last 18 months as part of its forensic modernisation programme. I anticipate SPSA will submit proposals for the Scottish Government’s consideration later this month. We will carefully consider SPSA’s proposals before reaching a decision.

Police

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers were seconded to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency as of 1 September 2010, broken down by police force.

Kenny MacAskill: On 1 September 2010 there were 205 police officers on secondment at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The following table breaks down these secondees by their home police force.

  

Police Force
Number of Secondees at SCDEA


Central
6


Dumfries and Galloway
9


Fife
9


Grampian
17


Lothian and Borders
39


Northern
6


Strathclyde
107


Tayside
9


British Transport Police
3


Total
205

Police

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 2009 Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) staff survey has been published, and if not, when it expects it will be.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Police Services Authority did not carry out a staff survey in 2009.

Police

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many officers are employed in Strathclyde Police’s road policing unit.

Kenny MacAskill: Road policing in Strathclyde is an operational matter for Strathclyde Police so this information is not held centrally.

Police

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers are aware of plans to reduce the number of officers in Strathclyde Police’s road policing unit and, if so, by how much.

Kenny MacAskill: Road policing in Strathclyde is an operational matter for Strathclyde Police so this information is not held centrally.

Police

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an assessment has been carried out on the effect of reducing the size of Strathclyde Police’s road policing unit.

Kenny MacAskill: Road policing in Strathclyde is an operational matter for Strathclyde Police so this information is not held centrally.

Prison Service

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many remand prisoners there have been in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is shown in the following table. This is based on the most recent published information and information for 2009 will be available once the 2009-10 data are published later this year.

  Number of Remand Admissions to Scottish Prisons: 1999 to 2008

  

1999
11,207


2000
10,620


2001
12,145


2002
13,904


2003
13,948


2004
14,044


2005
14,610


2006
17,120


2007
16,517


2008
16,262



  Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services

  Notes

  1. Figures are based on remand admissions during the period and will differ from published figures on the number of remand receptions.

  2. An admission is defined as an individual spending a period in custody without being liberated into the community, whereas a reception is registered every time there is a change of custodial status. For instance, the case of an individual coming in on remand who then receives a custodial sentence is counted as one admission, but two receptions. An individual coming in on remand on two separate occasions counts as two admissions.

  3. Data are extracted from a live management information system and updated on an on-going basis. The information presented here may therefore differ slightly from information shown previously.

Prison Service

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of remand prisoners has received a custodial disposal in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is shown in the following table. This is based on the most recent published information and information for 2009 will be available once the 2009-10 data are published later this year.

  Percentage of Remand Admissions followed by a Custodial Disposal in Scottish Prisons: 1999 to 2008

  

1999
38


2000
39


2001
36


2002
36


2003
36


2004
37


2005
37


2006
37


2007
39


2008
39



  Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services

  Notes

  1. About 10% of cases resulted in a cross-border transfer, transfer to medical facility, release on bail or were terminated due to the death of the accused. Figures also include a small number of recall cases.

  2. Data are extracted from a live management information system and updated on an on-going basis. The information presented here may therefore differ slightly from information shown previously.

Prison Service

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of sentence has been for people given a custodial disposal for fine default in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The average length of sentence for people given a custodial disposal for fine default was 11 days in each year until 2007-08 when the average length of sentence rose to 12 days. That remained the average figure in 2008-09.

  The information requested is given in Table 16 in Prison statistics Scotland: 2008-09. This is available online through the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/27092125/0.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35568 by Kenny MacAskill on 26 August 2010, who the other justice sector colleagues are with whom arrangements exist for sharing information on a prisoner’s release.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service shares information with community-based social work and police colleagues in relation to throughcare and risk management upon a prisoner’s release. The Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 describes in particular joint arrangements for the management of high risk sex offenders. Section 10 and 11 of this act describes the arrangements for assessing and managing risks posed by certain offenders. These are known as Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements. (MAPPA). There is however, no statute stating who must be informed of a prisoner’s release.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35567 by Kenny MacAskill on 26 August 2010, how long prior to the release of a prisoner on temporary licence a local police force will be informed.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  There is no prescribed timescale for the passing of this information. On average local police are notified 24 to 48 hours in advance of temporary release.

Public Sector

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with public bodies regarding plans to merge those with overlapping functions.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government is continuing to look for opportunities to simplify and streamline the public bodies landscape in Scotland wherever possible.

Sport

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much is spent per head of population on sport, fitness and leisure access, broken down by local authority, and how these compare with the Scottish and UK averages.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Sport, fitness and leisure opportunities are available through a range of providers in the public, private and third sectors. The report published by Audit Scotland in 2008 entitled A Performance Overview of Sport in Scotland (Bib. number 45497) provides details of the net revenue spend by Councils per head of population. In addition to this sportscotland invests government and lottery funding in a range of sports programmes and activities. Information on sportscotland’s investment can be found on its website at www.sportscotland.org.uk .

Young People

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial help, in whatever form, has been given to expand the availability of secure accommodation since 2003.

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government committed to completing the previous administration’s redevelopment programme and has provided over £20 million to the secure estate since 2002. This, along with financial spend from the secure estate, increased the number and geographical spread of places; improved specialist provision, and saw the creation of a dedicated unit for girls and young women.